Hilltop Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hilltop Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $619,000. Great Diamond Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 15.8% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.7% during the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 4,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CAT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $340.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $366.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.66. The stock has a market cap of $162.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.